Late publish...

June 2007

Delicious 2

Just found a way to list recent Delicious tags on this page, on the right.

Last post

Video games

It will be interesting when we are the age of our grandparents and we will explain to children then what video games were like when we were growing up...Pacman, Centipede, Donkey Kong...Pong.

To contribute to the historical record now: When I was young, only boys played video games.

Remember...

...the Arizona.

Pet peeves

A pet peeve of mine: when it is easier to find a particular news article using a generic google search than with the site's built in search engine.

Example: try to find the following article:

"As gas prices fall, gas stations' profits actually rise," by Paul Davidson in USAToday on 1 Dec 08.

Holidays

The one consistent annoyance about working on a holiday is dealing with the rest of the world , since they aren't.

The wheel of history...

It really bothers me when I watch a news program, or even talk to someone, and they propose a position on something ("Get rid of the department of education!") without giving any argument or supporting facts or references. This has led me to always try to do so in my own writing. The problem with this is that it makes writing harder and takes up more time, and this often contributes to me never finishing a certain piece. It also tends to suck the enjoyment out of writing. One of the most enjoyable things about writing for me (especially when writing fiction, which I have also gotten out of the habit of,) is the ability I have to control all elements, and to say what I like as I see fit. Want the sky to be green? Done. Want to write as though Russia went to war with China in 2013? Fine.

All of which is getting around to me saying this: While I like to be rigorous in my writings, especially when making arguments, I'm tired of it getting in the way of actually finishing. So, sometimes I'm going to make statements with no backup whatsoever.

Regarding China: As the 20th century was the story of the United States, so the 21st century will be the story of China. Fifty years from now, when historians are writing books, they will point to the war in Iraq as the last gasp of American foreign policy as a superpower.

I have a friend who mentioned she was taking Chinese. She said when she told people about this, she invariably got one of two responses. One: "Oh really? Why?" Two: "Wow, good for you, I need to do that too."

Body of Lies

Eh, thumbs down. No particularly inspiring writing, and since I didn't really care that much about the characters played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe, it was kind of hard to care what happened to them.

It was interesting to see some UAV stuff (which they didn't screw up as badly as other movies). However, it was downright retarded to see them talking classified information back and forth over not just unsecured phones, but out in the open in front of their families, or on the streets of a foreign nation. I've never been a spy, so I can't tell you if that's how they do business, but I can say I'd never be allowed to do such things in the military. And we never handle classified material in a room with windows, much less the glass boxes they spent much large parts of the movie in.

Thanksgiving

I won't be home for Thanksgiving this year, and that's annoying for the following reason (besides the obvious): I had a really good thing to be thankful for this year.

Last year, I was thankful for the Internet. That isn't sarcasm, and it isn't meant to be shallow either. I didn't have something specific in mind when we started talking about our things to be grateful for, but I started on the fact that I was able to stay in touch with friends and family throughout all my travels, and that the Internet was a big part of that.

This year, I am grateful for the fact that the presidential race was not as bloody (metaphorically) as it could have been. Since really becoming aware of politics in college, it has seemed as though the level of discourse in the nation has dropped off, and that the most radical elements of both parties were gaining hold, increasingly creating a rift between groups of citizens (and often doing so over incredibly small issues, things that are beginning to affect smaller and smaller parts of the population, that are taking precedence over much larger issues).

In a time of such divisiveness, it would be easy to unleash the hounds, and really play to the baser human instincts, but this didn't happen. Both candidates fought for what they thought was right, and did so without true viciousness, and I truly feel that the way they both chose to campaign has bettered the country. I had conversation via email with a friend recently regarding the candidates, and I said of McCain, "There are few people in Washington I have as much respect for as John McCain; he has sacrificed more than most people can imagine. I think his true colors have shown lately in his rallies where he has been defending Obama to McCain supporters..."

John McCain had to pause in the middle of a rally, and tell to his own supporters, people (right or wrong) full of anger and fear, that they had no need to be fearful of or angry at Barack Obama.
This was a terrible political move. But it was the correct moral thing to do, and truly was good for our country, and I again reaffirm my respect for McCain's character and leadership. Sadly, his choice will be seen by lesser men both as weakness and as a failed political choice. No one remembers Cincinnatus or Scipio Africanus, but it was men such as these who made Rome great, in their willingness to set aside their own power for the benefit of the nation.

So I am thankful for John McCain and Barack Obama, and the choices they made. It is easy to find politics gone badly wrong. Look to Zimbabwe, or Myanmar, where the "bloody" is not metaphoric. Or try this one out for a change, for myself and others my age: ask your parents about American politics in the 1960s and 70s. They were there, and it was much worse in America then than now. I think of the way I have felt watching our government in action over the last several years, and I think I have only a small inkling of what it was like in the 60s, and none whatsoever of things like Myanmar, and I am thankful.

Kudos

Welcome to the kudos list: people or events getting a thumbs up.

Craig Ferguson

Counterinsurgency

I don't have time to go into the details, unfortunately, so here's the big picture: It isn't a guerrilla or terrorist attack that brings down a nation. It is that nation's overreaction to it. This is a well established principle of counterinsurgency warfare, and it's the reason Al-Qaeda would like to see John McCain elected president.

Time article

Promotion rates for USAF officers

Another email I got recently. I'm not sure where the formatting comes from, but I have gotten messages in this format (all caps, spacing, date+time formats) my whole career. Perhaps it comes from the old teletype message days. I'm also not certain on all the vocabulary and acronyms used. There must be a massive dictionary of such things in the basement of the Pentagon, or somewhere.

~~~

252100Z SEP 08

FROM: HQ AFPC RANDOLPH AFB TX//DPS//

TO: AL 8106

AL ALPERSCOM

AL 10607

SUBJ: DAY 66 - CY08D COL (CHAP), CY08C LTC (CHAP/LAF-J) & MAJ (LAF/LAF-J) PRF ALLOCATION DATE

1. 26 SEP 08 IS DAY 66 FOR THE SUBJECT CENTRAL SELECTION BOARDS. THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE PROVIDES DP ALLOCATION RATES FOR ALL COMPETITIVE CATEGORIES. ALSO INCLUDED ARE THE NUMBER OF AGGREGATE AND CARRY-OVER DP RECOMMENDATIONS AVAILABLE FOR AWARD BY THE AF NON-LINE MLR, BEING HELD 21 OCT 08 AT HQ AFPC.

2. THE DP ALLOCATION RATES FOR THIS BOARD ARE AS FOLLOWS:

GRADE COMP PROM IPZ DP BPZ DP

CAT OPP RATE RATE

COL CHAP 40% 10% 10%

LT COL CHAP 75% 50% 10%

LT COL LAF-J 85% 45% 10%

MAJ LAF 95% 75% N/A

MAJ LAF-J 95% 75% N/A

NOTE: REMEMBER THAT PROMOTION OPPORTUNITY FOR THE MC/DC TO MAJOR AND LT COL I/APZ IS 100% AND PRFS ARE NOT REQUIRED. EXCEPTIONS: SENIOR RATERS WILL PREPARE PRFS ON ALL OFFICERS WHO RECEIVE A "DO NOT PROMOTE" (DNP) RECOMMENDATION AND ON ALL OFFICERS WHO RECEIVE A "PROMOTE" (P) RECOMMENDATION, BUT HAVE DEROGATORY INFORMATION (ARTICLE 15, COURT-MARTIAL, REFERRAL REPORT, LOR, ETC.) FILED IN THEIR OFFICER SELECTION RECORD (OSR).

3. AGGREGATE AND CARRY-OVER DP RECOMMENDATIONS AVAILABLE FOR THE AF NON-LINE MLR (21 OCT 08) ARE:

AGGREGATE CARRY-OVER

GRADE COMP CAT DPS AVAIL DPS AVAIL

COLONEL CHAP 1 N/A

LT COL CHAP 4 1

LT COL LAF-J 2 4

MAJ LAF-J 6 3

4. MANAGEMENT LEVELS (MLS) WHICH CAN AGGREGATE (I.E., DO NOT HAVE THE MINIMUM GROUP SIZE TO AWARD A DP RECOMMENDATION) OFFICERS TO THE AF NON-LINE MLR MAY SUBMIT A NUMBER OF OFFICERS EQUAL TO THE NUMBER OF DPS AVAILABLE THROUGH AGGREGATION AND CARRY-OVER. EXAMPLE: THE MAJ LAF-J CATEGORY HAS 6 DPS IN AGGREGATION AND 3 DPS IN CARRY-OVER; THEREFORE, MLS THAT AGGREGATE CAN SUBMIT UP TO 9 I/APZ OFFICERS TO THE AF NON-LINE MLR.

5. MLS WHICH DO NOT AGGREGATE (THAT IS, THEY DO HAVE THE MINIMUM GROUP SIZE TO AWARD A DP RECOMMENDATION) MAY ONLY SUBMIT OFFICERS TO COMPETE FOR CARRY-OVER DPS AVAILABLE. USING THE ABOVE EXAMPLE AGAIN, SINCE THE MAJ LAF-J CATEGORY HAS 3 DPS AVAILABLE IN CARRY-OVER, THE MLS MAY SUBMIT UP TO 3 I/APZ OFFICERS TO COMPETE.

6. PLEASE REMIND SENIOR RATERS THAT AFI 36-2406, OFFICER AND ENLISTED EVALUATION SYSTEMS, PROHIBITS UNDERLINING, CAPITALIZING, ETC., TO MERELY EMPHASIZE COMMENTS (E.G., CAPITALIZING "DEFINITELY PROMOTE" ON SECTION IV). SENIOR RATERS ARE PROHIBITED FROM MENTIONING PREVIOUS PRF RATINGS, FAMILY ACTIVITIES, AND OTHER ITEMS INCLUDED IN PARA 3.7. ADDITIONALLY, COMMENTS ON SELECTION STATUS ON THE SCHOOLS LIST, SELECTION FOR, COMPLETION OF, OR ENROLLMENT IN DEVELOPMENTAL EDUCATION OR ADVANCE ACADEMIC EDUCATION ARE PROHIBITED (EXCEPTION: THOSE OFFICERS WHO HAVE BEEN DESIGNATED TO ATTEND SCHOOL ARE AUTHORIZED TO HAVE COMMENTS "ON THE WAY TO IDE/SDE" OR "FOLLOWING SDE MAKE HIM MSG/CC" ON THE PRF/OPR THAT CLOSES OUT JUST PRIOR TO DEPARTURE PER MPFM 07-45.) FURTHERMORE MPFM 07-45 STATES NO MENTION OF SPECIFC SCHOOLS ARE AUTHORIZED ON ANY EVALUATION, ONLY "BDE, IDE OR SDE" MAY BE USED FOR DEVELOPMENTAL EDUCATION. PRFS NOT IN COMPLIANCE SHOULD BE RETURNED TO SENIOR RATERS FOR CORRECTION. IT REMAINS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THE SENIOR RATERS YOU SUPPORT KNOW THE RULES.

7. MANAGEMENT LEVELS SHOULD GIVE SPECIFIC ATTENTION TO THE "GROUP SIZE" BLOCK ON ALL PRFS TO ENSURE ACCURACY. THE GUIDELINES IN DETERMINING GROUP SIZE CAN BE FOUND IN AFI 36-2406, TABLE 8.2.

8. SINCE AFPROMS (FORMALLY PRISM) WILL BE USED TO BUILD THE FILES ON CANDIDATES MEETING THE AF NON-LINE MLR, IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT MLS UPDATE THE APPROPRIATE CODES INTO AFPROMS IMMEDIATELY AFTER THEIR MLRS HAVE ADJOURNED. MLS MUST ENTER A PRF RATING OF "A" FOR AGGREGATE CANDIDATES AND "C" FOR CARRY-OVER CANDIDATES IN AFPROMS. AS A REMINDER, PRFS PREPARED ON OFFICERS WHO WILL BE SUBMITTED FOR AGGREGATION OR CARRY-OVER SHOULD NOT BE MARKED IN SECTION IX, OVERALL RECOMMENDATION. FORWARD ONLY AGG/C-O PRFS TO HQ AFPC/DPSIDEB, 550 C STREET WEST, SUITE 7, RANDOLPH AFB TX 78150-4709, TO ARRIVE NLT 28 OCT 08. ALL OTHER PRFS WILL BE FORWARDED TO AFPC/PBSE NLT 2 NOV 08.

9. POC FOR THIS MESSAGE IS AFPC/DPSIDEB, DSN 665-2697/2753 (COMM 210 565-2697/2753), FAX DSN 665-2326 (COMM 210 565-2326). E-MAIL ADDRESS IS: AFPC.MLR@RANDOLPH AF.MIL

//SIGNED//

DIRECTOR, PERSONNEL SERVICES

~~~

published 26 oct 08

USAF demographics

I periodically get the USAF demographics mailed to me, they are an interesting look at the service.

-----Original Message-----
From: Air Force Personnel Center News Service [mailto:AFPC.News@randolph.af.mil]
Sent: Monday, October 20, 2008 12:22 PM
To: Witt, David
Subject: AFPC News Service Oct. 20, 2008: Service demographics offer snapshot of force

Welcome to the Air Force Personnel Center News Service



Oct. 20, 2008
Release No. 126

Service demographics offer snapshot of force

RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Air Force Personnel Center officials here recently published a demographics report offering a snapshot of the service's active-duty and civilian force. This data is current as of Sept. 30 and can also be found at http://www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/ under Air Force Demographics.

Statistics are rounded to the nearest tenth.

Active-duty demographics:

Snapshot of the Air Force
- 322, 897 individuals are on active duty
-- 64,805 officers and 258,092 enlisted personnel
- The Air Force has 13,242 pilots, 4,213 navigators, 1,282 air battle managers and 30,047 nonrated line officers in the grades of lieutenant colonel and below

Age
- The average age of the officer force is 35; for enlisted Airmen, it's
29
- Of the force, 38.47 percent are below the age of 26
-- 44.58 percent of enlisted Airmen are below 26 versus 14.11 percent of officers

Gender
- 19.6 percent of the force are women
-- 18.31 percent of the officers are women and 19.92 percent of the enlisted corps are women
-- 59.6 percent of the female officers are line officers; 40.4 percent are nonline
- 84.86 percent of the male officers are line officers; 15.14 percent are nonline
- The population of women is 63,272
- Women first entered pilot training in 1976, navigator training in 1977 and fighter pilot training in 1993
-- Currently, there are 601 (4.21 percent) female pilots, 246 (5.41
percent) female navigators and 151 air battle managers (11.3 percent)

Race of Airmen
The following percentages, which are self-reported, cover Air Force military members' racial information.
- 0.62 percent reported their race to be American Indian or native Alaskan
- 2.48 percent reported their race to be Asian
- 14.71 percent reported their race to be black or African American
- 0.97 percent reported their race to be native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
- 73.54 percent reported their race to be white
- 1.87 percent reported their race to be more than one of the categories

- 5.79 percent declined to report their race

Ethnicity
"Hispanic or Latino" is now considered an ethnic, not a racial, category that is registered separately and in addition to the above racial categories.
- 9.7 percent of Airmen call themselves "Hispanic/Latino"
- 86.58 percent "not Hispanic/Latino"
-- 3.72 declined to respond

Marital status
- 60.2 percent of the current force is married, which is 71.66 percent of the officers and 57.33 percent of enlisted Airmen
- There are 19,287 couples in the Air Force with both spouses in the military
-- 1,395 of these are married to members of other military services

Family members
- Active-duty members support 492,002 family members
-- 387,180 family members reside in an Airman's household

Overseas
- 20.95 percent of the current force is assigned overseas (including Alaska and Hawaii)
-- 9,697 officers and 57,937 enlisted personnel

Total active federal military service
- The average total active federal military service is 11 years for officers and 8 years for enlisted Airmen

Officer academic education
- 51.85 percent of the officers have advanced or professional degrees
-- 41.13 percent have master's degrees, 9.32 percent have professional degrees and 1.39 percent have doctorate degrees
-- 25.99 percent of company grade officers have advanced degrees, 19.16 percent have master's degrees, 6.56 percent have professional degrees and 0.27 percent have doctorate degrees
-- 85.63 percent of field grade officers have advanced degrees, 69.76 percent have master's degrees, 13 percent have professional degrees and
2.87 percent have doctorate degrees

Enlisted academic education
- 71.2 percent have some semester hours towards a college degree
-- 78 percent of Airmen
-- 77 percent of NCOs
-- 26 percent of senior NCOs
- 17.91 percent have an associate's degree or equivalent semester hours
-- 1.6 percent of Airmen
-- 18 percent of NCOs
-- 51 percent of senior NCOs
- 5.22 percent have a bachelor's degree
-- 1.7 percent of Airmen
-- 3.9 percent of NCOs
-- 18 percent of senior NCOs
- 0.83 percent have a master's degree
-- .02 percent of Airmen
-- .39 percent of NCOs
-- 4.4 percent of senior NCOs
- .01 percent have a professional or doctorate degree

Component
- 99.28 percent of the officers have a regular commission
-- 99.53 percent of the line officers have a regular commission

Developmental education
- 61.83 percent of the officers have completed one or more professional military education or developmental education courses either in residence or by correspondence.
-- 9,668 have completed at least one senior service school or senior developmental education course, 12,431have completed an intermediate level course while 17,972 have completed Squadron Officer School.

Source of commission
- 20.57 percent of the officers were commissioned through the Air Force Academy, 42.88 percent through Reserve Officer Training Corps and 19.38 percent through Officer Training School.
-- The remaining 17.17 percent were commissioned through other sources (direct appointment, etc.).

Civilian employee demographics

Total civilian strength
- There are 141,937 civilian employees
-- 77.4 percent are "white collar" and 22.6 percent are "blue collar"

Citizenship
- 132,665 are U.S. citizens including U.S. nationals (10,134 are Air Force Reserve technicians)
- 9,270 are foreign national employees
- Two are other non-U.S. employees in the United States or a U.S.
territory

Age
- The average age is 46.6 years

Length of service
- The average length of service is 15.3 years

Retirement eligibility
- 25.3 percent become eligible in more than 20 years
- 29.5 percent become eligible in 11-20 years
- 17.6 percent become eligible in 6-10 years
- 17.3 percent become eligible in 1-5 years
- 8.5 percent became eligible 0-5 years ago
- 1.9 percent became eligible more than 5 years ago

Gender
- 33.4 percent are female and 66.9 percent are male

Race
The following percentages cover self-reported Air Force civilian members' racial information.
- 1.1 percent reported their race to be American Indian or native Alaskan
- 5 percent reported their race to be Asian
- 11.9 percent reported their race to be black or African American
- 0.3 percent reported their race to be native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
- 70.3 percent reported their race to be white
- 0.5 percent reported their race to be more than one of the categories
- 10.9 percent declined to report their race

Ethnicity
"Hispanic or Latino" is now considered an ethnic, not a racial, category that is registered separately and in addition to the above racial categories.
- 7 percent of airmen call themselves "Hispanic/Latino"
- 92.9 percent "not Hispanic/Latino"

Overseas
- 10.9 percent of the total civilian work force is assigned overseas
- 40.3 percent are U.S. citizens including U.S. Nationals.
- 59.7 percent are local nationals

Military service
- 3.1 percent of the civilian work force are retired officers
- 16.2 percent of the civilian work force are retired enlisted
- 29.5 percent of the civilian work force have some military service (not retired)
- 51.2 percent have no military service

Education (white collar)
- 25.3 percent have a bachelor's degree
-- 18 percent have a master's degree and 2 percent have a doctorate or professional degree
- 23 percent have an associate's degree or have accumulated hours toward a bachelor's degree
- 28.4 percent have at least a high school education
- 1.5 percent have less than a high school diploma

Education (blue collar)
- 3.9 percent have a bachelor's degree
-- 0.3 percent have a master's degree
- 26.2 percent have an associate's degree or have accumulated hours toward a bachelor's degree
- 67.9 percent have at least a high school education or equivalent
- 1.4 percent have less than a high school diploma

Developmental education
- 6,684 civilian employees have completed one or more military schools
-- 3,764 have completed Squadron Officer School
-- 3,544 have completed intermediate developmental education
-- 2,067 have completed senior developmental education

Executive-level training
- 323 employees have completed executive-level training
-- 25 Congressional fellowship programs
-- 270 executive and senior executive leadership
-- 24 public administration graduate school
-- 10 management graduate school

For more information, go to Air Force Personnel Statistics on AFPC's "Ask" Web site.


-- 30 --


The Air Force Personnel Center -- putting the Right People in the Right Place at the Right Time.
For more AFPC news and information, log on to our Web site at http://www.afpc.randolph.af.mil.
________________________________________________________________________
_________

You can now manage all your Air Force subscriptions from one location.
Go to http://www.af.mil/subscribe/

--------
You are currently subscribed to afpcns as: david.witt@X.mil If you wish to cancel your subscription at anytime, simply send a blank e-mail to leave-1996568-3494590.016c4ee232d47c87f6bde1ff4d544ea1@mercury.afnews.af
.mil.

~~~
published 26 oct 08

The official release on the new non-rated UAV pilot program. See previous entries 1 and 2.

-----Original Message-----
From: Air Force Personnel Center News Service [mailto:AFPC.News@randolph.af.mil]
Sent: Monday, October 06, 2008 11:34 AM
To: Witt, David
Subject: AFPC News Service Oct. 6, 2008: Officer volunteers wanted for UAS

Welcome to the Air Force Personnel Center News Service

Oct. 6, 2008

Release No. 121

Officer volunteers wanted for UAS

RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas - Air Force officers are currently being sought to volunteer for unmanned aircraft system operators. Applications are due to Air Force Personnel Center no later than Nov. 3.

The first ten officers selected will start UAS operator training in January 2009, and another ten will begin training in April 2009.

The UAS is a big part of the future of the Air Force, said Air Force officials. First-hand knowledge of its capabilities and operations will be critical to future combat effectiveness as well as future Air Force leadership. Pilots flying operational missions or working in the Predator Operations Center get a unique perspective on world events, typically while such events are in progress.

In order to volunteer, officers must complete the test of basic aviation skills (TBAS) by Oct. 31. Testing locations that administer the TBAS can be found on the Pilot Candidate Selection Method Web site (Common Access Card is required to access this site).

In addition to the TBAS, officers must meet the following requirements:

-- Captains with 4-6 years total active federal commissioned service as of Jan. 5, 2009
-- Pilots are not eligible for this program
-- Combat System Officers, Panel Navigators, Electronic Warfare Officers, Weapons System
-- Officers, and Air Battle Managers are eligible to compete if they are not currently in training, awaiting training, or previously eliminated from UPT
-- Non-rated line officers are eligible
-- Be less than 30 years old Jan. 5, 2009
-- Air Force Officer Qualification Test minimum scores of pilot greater than twenty-five, combined pilot and navigator composites greater than fifty (if no AFOQT on file, complete the AFOQT by Oct. 31, 2008)
-- Two years time on station by July 1, 2009
-- No previous military pilot training experience

Volunteers meeting the criteria above and wanting to apply must complete the Aircrew Training Candidate Data Summery, Air Force Form 215, and electronically forward the completed form to Pipeline and Training Assignment Branch at specialflyingprogram@randolph.af.mil by 4 p.m. CST, Nov. 3, 2008. Group or squadron commanders (do not use a higher level) must provide their recommendations on the form. No other documentation will be accepted as part of the application process.

Interested officers that have questions about the application process, or the qualifications, can contact AFPC's Pipeline and Training Assignment Branch at (210) 565-2330, DSN 665-2330.

More information about this program can be found on the AFPC "Ask" site by entering "UAS" in the search engine. Individuals can also contact the 24-hour Air Force Contact Center at (800) 616-3775.


-- 30 --




The Air Force Personnel Center -- putting the Right People in the Right Place at the Right Time.
For more AFPC news and information, log on to our Web site at http://www.afpc.randolph.af.mil.
________________________________________________________________________
_________

You can now manage all your Air Force subscriptions from one location.
Go to http://www.af.mil/subscribe/

--------
You are currently subscribed to afpcns as: david.witt@X.mil If you wish to cancel your subscription at anytime, simply send a blank e-mail to leave-1989841-3494590.016c4ee232d47c87f6bde1ff4d544ea1@mercury.afnews.af
.mil.

~~~
published 26 oct 08

Some financial sites

Some websites of use while deciding on investments.

morningstar.com: Allows you to see current quote as information on companies, as well as access historical data on stock performance. You can construct a portfolio of stocks based on current prices or historical ones, and analyze it with numerous metrics. This is all for free, more services available if you pay.

kitco.com: Tracks precious metal prices.

Lazy portfolios by Paul Farrell: Set it and forget it. I use the Yale portfolio.

Blimp

I was just driving home from dinner and I noticed a blimp flying overheard. It was lit from the inside, so it looked a bit like the moon, except for being blimp shaped, and had a digital display on the side. What makes this all the more impressive is that I live in the northwest part of Vegas and am surprised it would pay to advertise by blimp up here.

USAFA

In retrospect, I wish I had had a blog during my years at the academy...I journaled a little, and I still have a website I created back then, but blogging is so much easier, it would have lat me capture so much more in real time. A lot of history that would have been available to people.

I am looking for blogs by cadets right now, but I can't find any.

Late publish

Just a couple of posts I finally finished.

Blood from a Stone - 24 Sep 08

Robot Mail - 30 Sep 08

Air Force

I heard a rumor recently that next year AMC will only be able to man 5% of required pilot staff jobs. I guess we shouldn't have been paying people to quit (the VSP program) for two years.

Papa Bear

An exchange at work I overheard:

Fox News was on and Bill O'Reilly was screaming at his guest, calling him a coward.

Guy 1: "Ah, I love to heard that."
Guy 2: "What's that?"
Guy 1: "Bill O'Reilly going off on someone."
Guy 2: "Oh. Who is that?" [It was Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services committee.]
Guy 1: "I dunno, I just love to hear Papa Bear speak his mind."

Robot mail

AFPC is the Air Force Personnel Center, the folks who manage manning for the whole service. They periodically send out automated emails advertising jobs they need to fill. Lately the most common ones have been 365s to Iraq or Afghanistan for various purposes. Recently I got a couple of interest.

There is a new airframe being spun up by the Air Force, the RC-12 Liberty Ship. This is a light twin engine airplane (a Beechcraft King Air if memory serves) that they are going to slap some sensor balls on and start flying all over Iraq. I wonder if this is because they are having trouble fielding enough UAVs, and/or recruiting enough pilots for them. I flew the T-44 in pilot training, which is extremely similar to the King Air (about 700#s less)...I don't know if I'd want to fly it in the desert.

The other email is a request for pilots who can no longer pass the normal flight physical who might be interested in UAVs. As the "blood from stone" post a few days back noted, the Air Force is suddenly desperate for pilots for this field. This publicity we've gotten is an interesting way to understand how big organizations work. Based on the press, you would expect that the UAV world is a big, up and coming field and it's a great place to be.

Well, it is up and coming. And in a big picture sense, it's a good place to be. I am getting to see and learn things here that not many people get to see and learn. And in the long run, the UAV world, both military and civilian, is only going to get bigger. But...at the tactical level (i.e., day to day), all this publicity and growth makes things very chaotic at my level. We just non-vol'd (sent people who didn't want to go) to Holloman AFB to help set that up. And we are now looking for some more people (volunteers or otherwise) to go to the schoolhouse/FTU squadron. But that squadron is also moving to Holloman next year, so those people will also be moving. So there is very little certainly about where many of us will be in the very near future. That type of uncertainty was the reason I took this job in the first place, but I didn't escape it here.

~
published 8oct08

Financial industry story

A friend sent me the following article which provides a bit more insight into the financial mess, and also contains a link to the NPR story it references.

My absentee ballot

Just thought people might be interested in seeing an Illinois absentee ballot.

http://www.vote-smart.org Voting guides (that is, information about candidates) for elections from the local to the national level.

Blood from a stone

We recently increased our workdays here due to the massive increase in ops tempo we (the UAV world) have gone through. I'm afraid our leadership is going to learn the wrong lesson from this, the wrong lesson being, "They're UAVs, every time we push them harder, we get more back."
This would lead them to believe that they can just keep pushing and just keep getting more back. I watched same thing happen in the desert: They asked for massive increase in ops and got it, then they asked for more, until finally we were all flying 12 hour days praying no one went DNIF or crashed one because it would mean a reduction in ops.

We already don't have any training lines, which is already bad enough. For those with no AF flying experience, most of the flying (60%? 75%?) a squadron does is training, even during a war. In the UAV world, the operational squadrons have zero dedicated training flights in a given day.

The following are a couple of articles referenced in an email from a friend who asked me about it.

Article 2, Air Force Times

-----Original Message-----
From: David Witt
Sent: Monday, September 22, 2008 15:43
To: X
Subject: FW: Fly opportunity


Yeah, we got a slightly early heads up on this. Big picture, I have no problem with lower level experience folks showing up here.

Small picture, what this means is that they OUGHT to get a lot more training than I got...but they probably won't, which means the already low average level of our experience will get even lower, and we will see a lot sloppier ops. This is your typical AF knee jerk reactions, all about quantity, quality goes straight out the window.

How's things?

-----Original Message-----
From: X
Sent: Friday, September 19, 2008 1:14 AM
To: Witt, David
Subject: FW: Fly opportunity

Interesting... not that I'd want to fly (or rather: to be responsible for that much $$ with my Murphy's law luck), but some dad's just won't let their dreams die. But it made me think - what are your thought on this, since you've seen two of the three sides first hand? Forgive me if you've addressed this in your blog, its been a few days since I've taken a peak.

-X

~~~
Up and Away: The Air Fo rce envisions building a force of 1,100 unmanned aircraft operators-up from today's pool of about 450-by Fiscal 2012 to support 50 continuous MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper combat air patrols under two new initiatives announced Tuesday at AFA's Air & Space Conference. The initiatives will develop a new cadre of UAV operators that do not have experience operating other combat aircraft, and in some cases, have no real previous flying experience at all, service officials said. "This will certainly be a cultural change," Brig. Gen. Lyn Sherlock , director of air operations on the Air Staff, told reporters during a press briefing.
Previously, the service has drawn its UAV operators from the ranks of more experienced pilots. But with the insatiable demand for UAVs, not only for overhead surveillance, but also for strike and additional roles, the Air Force is taking this new approach. Under the first initiative, the Air Force will select about 10 percent of its next batch of graduates from undergraduate pilot training in October-about 100 airmen-for training in UAV operations at Creech AFB, Nev. The second, more radical concept entails creating a new career field for UAV operators by choosing active-duty officers from various technical and non-technical backgrounds to teach to teach them to fly the UAVs. These officers will get some introductory flight training at Pueblo, Colo, and then go straight into Predator training "to bring them up to fully qualified mission status," said Brig. Gen. Darrell Jones , director of force management policy on the Air Staff. To see if this idea has long-term legs, there will be a two-part "beta test" program, he said. An initial class of 10 officers will start training in January until next fall. A second class of 10 will start next summer and finish before the end of 2009, Sherlock said. If those two test runs prove successful, the Air Force would then start accepting larger classes, Jones said.

~
published 8oct08

How to do a records review

HQ AFPC/PBR4
550 C Street West, Suite 5
Randolph AFB, TX 78150-4707

Email: Records.Review@randolph.af.mil
FAX: DSN: 665-2693
Comm: (210) 565-2693

Read the full description here.

The fiancial crisis...

...means I am getting a lot more calls from my mortgage company asking if I want to refinance. I've gotten at least 3 in the last 4 days.

Politics

Just some interesting links during this political season.

http://www.usaelectionpolls.com/ Shows combined polling data. Current projected electoral votes: McCain 261 / Obama 243.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/ Similar, a little more graphical though.

http://www.factcheck.org/ Non-partisan fact verification. Sarah Palin did put the state jet on eBay, it just didn't sell there.

the myth of the free market...

With the recent news of the Fannie May and Freddy Mac bailouts, I thought it might be interesting to go over the exact process of a bailout.

So here's how it goes. A privately owned or publicly traded company gets itself into financial troubles, in this case by buying a whole bunch of debt (in the form of mortgages). Unfortunately, they vastly overestimate the face value of these items. (E.g., a 30-year mortgage for $250,000 ought to be worth $250k over 30 years (simplified here by leaving out interest). However, they purchased hundreds of thousands of these and overlooked the fact that many of these new homeowners had no possible means to to pay $250k, even over 30 years.) So they pay a bunch of money for something and actually get nothing in return. When this becomes apparent, everyone who's loaned them money comes asking for it, and the company approaches the verge of collapse. Then, for whatever reason (friends in high places usually), the federal government decides that allowing such a company to go under would be "bad for America" and steps in with a bunch of cash to fund the debt of such a company. That cash comes from tax payer dollars. The net monetary effect is to take tax money from every American and transfer it to a few Americans. (Slightly different this time, see below). It also prevents what free-marketeers say is the upside to a free market, that the company in question (and the people that invested in it) get punished for their poor choices, thus preventing such problems in the future. (This is why Dick Cheney was against the housing market bailout.)

Savings and Loan scandal of the late 80s/early 90s followed the same pattern. Bear-Stearns was similar, and rumor is Lehman Brothers is next.

This type of action, which occurs at regular intervals in America, is the antithesis of the free market.

The new wrinkle with Fannie and Freddy is that for perhaps the first time, the majority of the investors in question were foreigners. Meaning that rather than sending tax dollars to a few select Americans, we sent that money overseas. America is being sold for parts, and it's being done by the very institutions that are supposed to protect it.

~~~
14 Sep: Anne's link: NPR link

Fringe

I heard about this new show coming out, Fringe. I think I'm going to like it as much as I did the first time...when it was called The X-Files.

Cold war

Given the political chicanery and inefficacy I've observed in this country in my lifetime, looking back, I'm actually quite surprised some crazy SOB didn't get us all killed during the Cold war.

Salaama Laykum

I recently saw Traitor, starring Don Cheadle , and it may be the smartest movie I've seen about the GWOT yet. Thumbs up!

Office 2007

The AF recently switched over to Office 2007 at work...am I the only one totally dumbfounded by the new menus (or I guess they are called "Ribbons" now...)? Just when I had learned a bit about the things Office could do and how to do them, they go and change it...

Operation Golden Flow

I stayed late after work today to take care of some paperwork and try to get my deployment travel voucher paid (still no luck), and because I was there, I got tagged for random (semi-random?) urinalysis.

I was in the seat for 5 1/2 hours today, so the first thing I did when I got out of the seat was pee. They handed me the letter about 45 mins later...the Air Force has a knack for this kind of timing. Same sort of thing happened at the Academy once. So I started drinking.

I was trying to think of the last time I had to do a test...it's been 4 or 5 years at least.

Bumper sticker

Saw this yesterday:

I'm speeding because I have to poop!

AF notes updated

A comment from someone in the know on my previous post, reposted here so it gets as much attention.

Dirndl said...

Sorry to say you have some incorrect information.

DTs meet at least twice a year, and they give guidance (i.e. vectors) to the assignment teams--or in the case of school, to the Developmental Education Designation Board (see http://ask.afpc.randolph.af.mil/docs/dpa/developed/6025_2008DRAFTIDESDECONOPS.doc). In each case, the DT makes a recommendation based on the officer's record, timing, and applicable endorsements; they do not get involved in the nitty-gritty of matching the officer's desires to the needs of the AF.

The 2008 summer DTs and later the 08 DEDB will send members to school in AY 09/10 from year groups 96-98 (who met boards in 04-06 and have DOR 1 Mar 06 to present) (see http://ask.afpc.randolph.af.mil/docs/dpa/developed/6025_Eligibility.xls).

Your promotion board (Maj LAF (P0408C)) meets in Dec 08 (see http://ask.afpc.randolph.af.mil/main_content.asp?prods1=1&prods2=2&prods3=10&prods4=475&prods5=480). Assuming you are selected for promotion, you will first be considered for IDE in 2010 for AY11/12.

But yes, always keep your ADP up to date, because the assignment teams may use those for out-of-cycle or oddball jobs that still have to be filled.

Aug 23, 2008 5:41:00 AM

My original post
On Intelink

af rumor

Heard a rumor that only 5% of staff jobs are going to be filled this year because they are so low on officers in my peer group. Surprise, surprise, who would have thought 7 years of war would tie up so many officers? I also heard they are considering paying to get back all the guys they paid to quit under the VSP.

AF career notes

Some notes regarding the AF vectoring process.

~~~
Developmental teams meet at random times at Randolph. They meet for different reasons (e.g. school, promotion, et cetera). And I don't think they make decisions. They merely give a recommended "vector" that real boards will use later.

For example, my IDE DT board is 4-8 August. But my promotion and school board (the people that make the decision) is 8-12 September. So the 4-8 August people are going to make a recommendation to the 8-12 September people.

Another personal example: When I was a 2 year captain a DT board met when I was nowhere near a promotion or school board. There they gave me a "vector." I assume they used that vector when my major's board met a year later. The vector used to be visible on the T-ODP. I can't find it on the ADP. Look at an old T-ODP or ask me and I'll bring in one of my old ones to show you.

Bottom line is that you need to make sure your ADP is correct. If you haven't updated your assignment preferences since the T-ODP became the ADP, I bet you they are jacked up (mine were...F-15E at Randolph?).

X's said something about him being a chaplain! And it takes awhile.
I updated my ADP last summer. I didn't get finalized with the wing cc's comments until January 08.

If the developmental team looks at your ADP and it says you're a chaplain who wants an F-15E at Randolph...your vector/recommendation might suffer.

~~~
The Vector can be found by going through the AF Portal under Top Viewed:
Career and selecting Assignment Management System (AMS). Once you open that link scroll over to the left where it says Personnel Information and select My Career Brief from the pop-up menu. Once you get into that, go to choose view and a menu appears with DT Vectors and Comments at the bottom. Now you're getting close! Choose that and click GO to see what your future holds. Mine is attached below for your viewing pleasure, not that I know what the hell it means.

Vector(s) Rec. Skill Pairing (If Appropriate) Rec. Specialized Studies (ACSC Only)

Air Staff
MAJCOM Staff
Chaplain - Wing

Development Team
***** 9/11/2007 12:00:00 AM *****
Notes: Wg Ch; assign at large base ( 8 or more Ch assign), Needs of the Air Force; Potential future senior leader

my intelink blog

Numbers

Just a quick note, not sure if I've posted this before or not: There are more contractors in Iraq than there are U.S. soldiers (190k vers 140k). Reference: Time.

Financial Advice

Sorry if people find this boring, but here's a few notes on investing and the economy.

There's always an inflation spike after a war (Wealth and Democracy, p36), due the excess gov't spending (and were making the record books on this one). How to protect against inflation? An inflation protected mutual fund, like this one by Vanguard. Bonds and gold traditionally do well in times of inflation and a slow economy.

If you don't really understand any of this, don't go out and bet the farm on this fund. Start studying.

A financial advisor I like:
Paul B. Farrell

Government Credit Card

Well, the mandatory US Government credit card changed again, from Bank of America to a Citibank Visa. It last changed in about 2005, I can't remember from what.

I've always hated the government card. In short, it is a card you are required by law to carry and use for all travel expenses. Here's why I don't like it: It works just like any other credit card but not as well. The government doesn't have a credit line, it's my credit rating the card is issued against, but I am required to use it. If the government is slow to pay my travel voucher (still haven't been paid for my deployment, due to DTS problems), it's my credit rating that takes a hit. I also have less control over viewing charges online than I do with my own bank (USAA). This thing is a waste of time for everyone except the youngest military members, who haven't yet established credit.

SOS and masters credit

Another post of information useful to young Air Force officers.

If you don't have it on paper, it didn't happen, as they say. Here are websites and addresses to use in getting records of SOS (training reports and diplomas) and in submitting records of academic completion to get them on your military records.

AU/SOS/Maxwell Registrar; Another SOS link

AFIT link

Address to have your academic transcript sent to:
AFIT Academic Coding Branch
2950 Hobson Way
Wright-Patterson AFB, Oh 45433-7765

American Military University, where I'm doing classes right now

Morons

Okay. Here's one reason why I hate watching TV news.

Just saw a story on a prominent 24 hour cable news station about how U.S. soldiers traveling to the middle east have to pay the airlines the extra bag fee for their bags. The VFW is angry about this, saying that a young soldier heading off to war shouldn't have to pay such a fee, and I would be too. In fact, I think I have more right, since I have been deploying for 5 years, and I've been paying overweight and extra bag fees the whole time. Except for one thing: The military reimburses us for all legitimate travels costs, including those fees. Everyone, when they travel on the government dime, has to file a travel voucher. So whether you get charged a fee (on your legally required government credit card) or not, you're still filing paperwork.

Clearly no one involved in publishing this story bothered to have even a 5 minute conversation about it with any military member. If you really want to find out about what you should be angry about, study up on the DTS system for filing travel vouchers and what a waste of time it is for all of us.


Baggage fee story

late publish

Psychosis

Delicious

Okay, so nerding out the other day I started a Delicious account. I read a lot of news online, and I finally got curious about the logo I kept seeing everywhere. Trying it out for now. Seems cool, lets you keep you bookmarks apart from a specific computer, a way of becoming hardware independent.

Bookmarks

~~~
16 Dec 08:
Later post

Driving to work and...

Driving to work and I just realized I haven't written blogpost in quite sometime, I am sorry about that. I have fun, see if it works, hopefully I will get to it tomorrow. That's it. listen

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Pilot references

1 Aug 08
In a similar vein to last post, some links relevant to flying/pilot information.

NOTAMs

USNO Atomic time

Baseops.net
The original flying gouge site

Awards and Decorations

1 Aug 08
With apologies to my regular readers, I will be posting some items out here that I will use as references for information on Air Force type stuff, things that are useful to Air Force members. The following links are relevant to anyone working on awards and decorations in the USAF. I will be update this page later.

AFCENT Awards shop

AFPC awards info

psychosis

Long ago, I read an opinion about mental health saying that schizophrenia, where you see and hear things that aren't there, was the only true form of craziness. All other mental problems are simply exaggerations of normal responses or actions that, in the proper environment, would seem normal.

Agree or not, I always remembered the story because it illustrated the meaning of the word psychosis, disconnection from reality.

On the topic. Among many of the other things that is disturbing to me about the war is complete madness it has created among Americans. Specifically, one mistruth I hear all too frequently in the military: "The threat to the United States has never been greater than it has today."

Let us take a historical example not even very far back, this was in my lifetime: 1983. Do we really think that the objective threat to the United States is greater today than it was in 1983, when there were literally thousands of independently launchable and targetable nuclear weapons pointed at every inhabited inch of America, and the USSR? I don't think I need to go back to the Civil war for a better example.

The statement is objectionable enough as a falsehood, an illusion of a threat. But the real danger in it is that it is so hyperbolic, so out of touch with reality, that it pushes us towards actions that not only don't help, they create further problems for us and exacerbate the ones we have.

We are fighting a global guerrilla war, and what is important in a fight like this is a long term, relatively low-cost, persistent and consistent strategy focused on the very small minority of people who wish us ill. The low-cost is important because it must also be long term - we cannot allow the cost of the war to overwhelm our economy. (Incidentally, our economy has always been the heart of U.S. military dominance and thus deserves a great deal more stewardship than we have shown in my lifetime. Problems like the current housing mess need to be foreseen and avoided by conscientious and patient leadership, and we could also do without carrying the elephant of a $9 trillion dollar debt on our backs.)

We do not have this strategy now, which is why we are not winning.

late publish

So if I finish a draft, it appears on the blog, but at the date I originally started writing it. If someone is only scanning the most recent entry, they won't see it, and I don't want to change the date, so I wrote this post.

25 June 08: Ten o'clock phone call


tags:
late publish: a post pointing at an older post that was just finished, so that someone only reading the latest entries will find it.

censored

Why doesn't America realize we are at war? Well, among other reasons...

Washington Post

Story of Gina Gray working at Arlington.

introvert

I'm an introvert, and I've spent the last few years really appreciating the meaning of this. Among many other things, an introvert gets tired easily of social interaction. I was reminded of this yet again when home for the 4th, when I was hanging out with my extended family, people I haven't seen in a long time, and I still found myself lapsing into silence when I could have been talking.

The change in my perception of this over my lifetime is interesting. When I was very young, I didn't even notice this tendency. When I was slightly older, I was defensive when people would ask why I didn't mix more. A little older than that (end of high school/start of college), and I was wondering why I was like this, and why I couldn't be more like others. In this phase, I made a lot of efforts to "act normal" and socialize...some successful, most not. When my energy is high, I can do this fine. But at the end of the day, when I am tired or stressed, I am much more comfortable reading a book or doing something alone, or with just a couple other people.

So where I am now in life is to recognize that this is not a strength of mine, and to know when I am going into a social situation that I need to prepare. Be well rested, be focused on the interaction rather than see it as a distraction. And when I am on vacation, on my off time, I've learned not to try and force myself into things I don't like, and just accept that some people are comfortable being in a conversation 18 hours a day, and I'm not. And that's okay, it's just something that shapes my life.

Returning to my pre-deployment life

Back in Vegas, about to go back to work.

Paranoia

I was walking in the annual 4th of July parade this year, and I couldn't stop thinking about what we would do if there was a terrorist attack...I did an informal survey of citizens, and in spite of all the billions we've invested in counter-terrorism in the last seven years, none of them has gotten or knows of any terror attack (or disaster preparedness) information or training.

Without ranting, I think the best possible use of money in preparing people for terror attacks (or disasters) is in teaching them...this is absolutely the best way to make the whole country safer. Second to that is teaching and training our first responders, third is equipping our first responders, fourth is everything else, like the Dept of Homeland Security and intel "fusion centers" all over the country.

Incidentally, the best thing I could come up with for the parade was for everyone to run away at a 90° to the parade route, which would decrease the crowd density at a maximum rate. (This isn't true everywhere, since the parade has inside turns, but I can't think of anything else.)

You'll get a little...

You'll get a little tone and then it starts recording your voice. So you can say I would like to post this to my blog and it does and I'm in the car with mom and Tina right now. That's it. listen

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commercial air travel

Traveling back home for the 4th. That extra charge for each of my two checked bags was an unpleasant surprise. Plus I had to put myself through the added indignity of moving things from one bag to another to lower the weight of my largest bag.

However, free internet at McCarran is nice, and being able to drink is great. They even have travel cups...I was able to drink a beer in line at the Burger King.

FOD

I was out driving today and I had to pull a U turn. The road was narrow, so I had drive on the should a bit, which was dirt, not asphalt, and had some gravel on it. As I did so, I instinctively said to myself that I had left a prepared surface and would have to do a FOD check before driving further on the flightline.

(FOD=Foreign Object Damage, a term that describes rocks or any other object that gets out on a flightline that can be ingested by an aircraft engine and cause damage.)

tags:
email, deployment, 2008 rote,

edit 2 jul, line breaks, minor editing

coming home 4

I have two keys on my keychain for my apartment complex. One is for my front door, the other is for the amenities (gym, pool). The amenities key has a diamond shaped head, just like my room key while deployed, so I keep trying to use that to open my apartment.

More that I miss from the desert:
One of the greatest perks that You often don't hear about is the embroidery shops there. With all the uniforms we have, and all the different badges and ranks, a tailor/embroidery shop is pretty important. A shop like this is often two to five folks working sewing machines, with someone working the counter. They usually do their work by hand, so if you can draw it, they
can make it. (Unlike in thje U.S., where everyone is now tied to computerized embroidery machines; you need a digital image file or they can't make it.) It's pretty cheap, and usually faster than here (a couple of days at the most).

Oil

About oil. A lot people say a lot of things, so I'll keep this brief. Robert Heinlein wrote this, probably at least four decades ago.

Ultimately, oil and dependence on it are a self solving problem. It's being consumed faster than it is being created, which means that eventually the imbalances in the world economy and ecology due to oil consumption will end. (Of course, if we prepared for this event we could make the transition to an oil free future a lot less painful than it is going to be, but conscientiously preparing for the future as a group just isn't done by the human race.)

The ten o'clock phone call.

I have a local phone number here. It costs me about 10 bucks a month, has no long distance and I don't use it much, but I keep it in case I lose my mobile phone, so that I have a way to contact work.

I am slowly moving to night shift here, so I am now sleeping late into the day. Almost every day, my phone rings at about 10 AM, and when it does, I know it is phone spam. I guess the latest wrinkle on sales calls is to automate them, so that I can't even tell them to add me to their do-not-call list. "This is your second notice that the factory warranty on your vehicle is expiring..."
(No need to specify the make or model of the vehicle since this is spam...the warranty on my current vehicle, which I got used, expired a long time ago.)

Interesting addendum to this story. I was walking through the airport recently on my last trip home. I walk past a bank of pay phones, and one of them is ringing. I'm not in a hurry, so I figure what-the-hey, and answer. "...to renew the factory warranty on your vehicle, please act now..." Wow. How desperate are phone spammers that they are now calling random pay phones? Probably it was a wrong number. I am not yet so paranoid as to believe the same spammers are now tracking my location and ringing any phone near me (seen the move The Game?). I bet Hollywood would love to make that into a movie though.

Interesting addendum to the addendum: I am flying back on the same trip, and same scenario,
I stop to answer a ringing pay phone. It would have been amazing if it was the factory warranty people again, and certainly would have fueled my paranoia, but it wasn't. It was just some guy, trying to get in touch with some other guy. I told him I didn't know guy 2, and that this was a airport pay phone. He said he must have a wrong number, and thanks. Now I wish I could remember the names, it would have made this story much more interesting.

coming home 3

It's also nice to not have to shred or burn anything with my name or address on it.

Something I miss: free postage on letters.

I still tap my right leg in gym shorts. The only pocket in the USAF PT gear was a small velcro thing on the lower hem of the right leg, it's where I would keep my keys.

waterboarding and sleep deprivation

I am planning on being in the 4th of July parade when I go home for leave next month. This is an attempt on my part to reach out to the civilian world and teach them something (anything!) about what the military does, to try and bridge the growing military-civilian gap.

I was talking with Colleen yesterday (and Christine before that), and said that what I would really like to do is set up a tent next to the Revolutionary War reenactor's camp that my town sometimes has for the 4th of July and demonstrate waterboarding. She asked me, "What's waterboarding?"

Waterboarding is an interrogation technique where the target is strapped down to something hard (the board) so they can't move their arms and legs and water is poured on their face to simulate the sensation of drowning. (Water+board=waterboarding) Needless to say, if the local police station did this to get a confession out of someone, I would hope large numbers people would protest this and demand the release of the alleged criminal. As well, any confession obtained in such a way would be unusable in a U.S. court, which is part of the reason the government is currently having so many problems prosecuting the few people in Gitmo that have been charged. We (the U.S.) has used waterboarding extensively since 9/11, and I would guess we are still using it now.

We have also used sleep deprivation, which I mentioned to Colleen as well. She asked what you do to keep someone awake when they are really tired. One method I have heard is that you get them to stand on something wobbly (a collection of beer bottles with a trash can lid on top, for example) and then use wires to tie their thumbs to the ceiling so if they fall off it hurts. Then they stand there all night trying to balance. If the thumbs don't provide them enough incentive, use the testicles. I've also heard of simply using a periodic electric shock to keep people awake.

I'm am not certain if these particular sleep deprivation techniques have been used, but some method of sleep deprivation has been used, and would likewise be unusable in a U.S. court.

I have also read that we have tried to justify torturing a terror suspects children in order to get a confession or further information. Don't know if this has every been done though.

It appalls me that the American people have no idea the things we do on their behalf.

coming home 2

My body still doesn't quite know what time it is...I fell asleep at about 2000 last night and just woke up (0200).

Yesterday I went to bed at midnight and woke up at 0430 and couldn't get back to sleep.

Coming home

More things to get used to to:

Being able to drink out of the faucet.

Being able to drive faster than 15 miles per hour (It still looks like everyone is speeding, everywhere, all the time.)

Hearing the sounds of children. Seeing children, and old people, out in public.

Seeing grass. I spent a night on the east coast before coming back to Vegas, and the grass and trees were so green there, it hurt my eyes.

Fast internet. I have the middle speed available from Cox, and it is so much faster than every connection available it the desert, it is like regaining a sixth sense.

Testing out posting...

Testing out posting by Jott. After(?) all this month(?), Britney(?) driving home from date, where I just move my weapon from the armory and turned it in and did my post appointment blood sample. That's it. listen

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digital life: pandora; tags

A site that illustrates the movement of life to the internet.

Pandora.com, where you can listen to free music all day. To generate a personalized play list, enter a song or artist you like, and they will find other music like it. An offshoot of the Music Genome project, which involves categorizing all music according to the the included elements (a truly monumental project.) Anne and I have discussed this (she's the one who actually put me onto the site in the first place) and neither of us can think of a way to do this other than to listen to all the music involved and enter it in a database/tag it in some way. Pretty time consuming, and I am grateful to be the beneficiary of the work.

Also a note on labels/tags: I've been meaning to try and define them to make it easier to sort entries. I'm not really going to go back and work on them all, but I will work on it as I go along.

Tags:
geek: things of a nerdy nature, video games, internet applications, math jokes, etc.
blogger: posts dealing with the mechanics of actually using blogger.
tags: a post that includes the definition of a tag
links: a post containing links to some other site or some other post
people: mentions someone other than me

timestamp

Okay, this is annoying.

I just changed my timezone back to pacific (Zulu-8) from Iraq (Zulu+3), and this changes the timestamps on ALL entries, including the ones when I was in Iraq.

traveling with a weapon

The Air Force has declared that everyone going to the desert will carry a weapon. This is a stupid policy that makes all of our travel slower and less secure.

While carrying a weapon, I am only allowed to use a GOV to travel when I am not on a military base, and I have to maintain physical control of the weapon at all times. So, for example, yesterday when I checked in for my flight at an airport on the east coast three hours before I could check baggage, I had to find a place to stow my luggage, and wandered around the airport with an M-9 pistol in my backpack. I wonder how everyone around would have felt had they known. (Granted, it was unloaded (and I never had ammunition for it) and inside a case secured with two locks, but nevertheless, it is a gun in an airport.) Interestingly, the people at the check in counter rarely bat an eye when you tell them this, I believe in large part due to the war, which has a lot of military folks both in an out of uniform traveling with weapons these days.

To travel with a weapon, all you need to do is claim that the weapon is unloaded and being transported in a locked case (which is of course a checked bag, not a carry on). They give you a blaze orange tag with confirms this and you sign it and put in inside the case.

When I got off the plane in Vegas, my bags didn't, since they didn't make the connecting flight that I did. I could have just taken a cab or gotten a ride home from a friend and had them deliver the bags, but instead I did the prescribed thing and waited there for the bags to arrive on a later flight while calling trans from the base to come and get me. They carried me to the base armory where I left the weapon and then a friend picked me up.

So every person going to the middle east has to carry a weapon and it means an extra 1-4 hours at each commercial stop you make, and you have a whole bunch of guns floating around out in the system. Or you could fly a single military cargo plane to the desert and set up an armory there. The Air Force chose the former.

Rote complete

I hereby declare the spring '08 rote complete. 12 Feb - 21 Jun 08

I am firmly back in the U.S. and it feels good.

Everything has a familiar and yet exotic feel...even sitting down at a desk to surf the internet free of restrictions or letting myself go three days without shaving. I got home late last night and started turning my regular life back on. I took down the drop cloths and began locating all the important things I left in stay-behind locations, like my datebook.

More to come.

Yahoo

My Yahoo and Blogger pages used to route through Britain, but a few days ago they started showing up in German.

Folks from UPT

Been busy, am busy, will be busy, so this will be brief.

I heard a rumor from a friend that they are going to start sending guys straight from UPT to Preds starting late 2008. I don't know if this is a good idea (and it certainly seems a little odd since they've been paying pilots to quit the last couple of years), but they are desperate for pilots.

dust two

I was walking around the other day in the dust, and I saw some folks wearing masks. I have one too, the disposable kind you might use working on drywall or somewhere there is a lot of sawdust.

The second day I was here, there was a dust storm and I had a cough for about six weeks. I would wear a mask for the dust storms after that, but at some point I got out of the habit. Now the dust doesn't even bother me. I wonder if I will have trouble breathing the air back in the States since it isn't as thick?

dust

Dust storm rolled through here yesterday. This has the interesting side effect of making it cooler, I guess because the dust is reflecting the sunlight before it reaches the ground.

The air gets really still and quiet, it reminds me of the way foggy air feels; it's actually nice to walk around camp. The dust is so fine though, it gets in through any opening in a building and collects on every surface.

quick

Okay, one more quick entry.

A friend of mine recently confessed that despite the importance of her family in her life, she doesn't spend enough time with them, a problem I have noted more than once myself.

It's hard to turn over a new leaf in my present position, but there is some stuff I can do, like really read a FB page instead of scanning it and finding the funniest wall post.

So anyway, Liz, I just wanted to say I read your interests and I found them very entertaining and also very representative of you. I, of course, also love old book smell. I love your Venn diagram about pants, it reminded me of Homer Simpson. And that link the architecture rant...Catherine, this isn't an attack on you, but I agreed with a lot of what Choi said. (And is it true that Rem gets a lot of sleep? Why doesn't that trickle down to his organization? Having personally worked for such organizations (working for one now) and observed the poor decisions (life or death decisions) we make while sleep deprived, I would work hard to build an org that would have shorter workdays, so as to focus only on what is truly important.

excuses; good samaritan

It has been true of each of my deployments that by the end, my knowledge of the situation is at it's peak, my flying skills are good, but have fallen off from their peak (somewhere around month 3), my apathy is at a maximum and my patience is at a minimum.

All of this is a left-handed way of apologizing for the fact that haven't written many good entries lately. Yesterday was another helluva day at work; they never end. Despite my best efforts, we had a number of late takeoffs, and it is hard to care very much about that since whether I care or not, or work against them or not, they still happen and no one else cares. So yeah, apathy, because the only thing I can really change around here is whether or not I get an ulcer. I have no patience right now to write decently constructed entries about things here. It takes too much effort to write clearly, try to explain things from a non-military POV, screen it for opsec, proofread it and post it. (Not to mention the fact that I don't care to re-live my work hours during my free time.) I might do some backdated posting after I get back to the states, hopefully I will at least finish some of the 10 or so draft entries I have going right now.

So the deployment story I will spend the time to write today: I spent a few minutes face down on concrete on my way to chow before this for incoming fire.

Anyway.

Sorry for the tangent. This entry was motivated by the recent news story of the older man who was struck by a car in Hartford recently.

(I am reading back each way I have written this and there isn't at least some part of each that comes our sounding preachy, self-righteous, or insensitive. So do I post this? At risk of seeming an ass, I will...I'd rather be a bad writer than not one at all.)

I am reminded of some things I learned in the Boy Scouts. The proper thing to do would be to block off traffic, send someone to call the police and emergency services, then render first aid, but only if you think he's going to die right there. If he's breathing and not bleeding to death, you shouldn't touch him, and if he's conscious, you should tell him not to move either until trained help arrives.

A note on sending someone for help: You have look one of the on-lookers in the eyes, ask for their name, and then say, "Hello John Smith, nice to meet you. Go call 911 immediately and tell them there has been an accident at 123 Main Street and they need to send police and an ambulance." If you can do this while shaking their hand or slapping them on the shoulder, so much the better, it distracts them momentarily from the panic and confusion.

This last step is important and illustrates a common problem in urgent situations involving groups of people: no one's in charge, no one wants to be in charge, and everyone thinks someone else has all the relevant information and is doing something. The name step is important because it cuts through the herd mentality. Most people will react fairly well in a urgent situation if they are given simple instructions for tasks they've done before that make sense.

All of this is a round about way of saying that while the reaction of onlookers might have been slow, I don't think it was criminally so (the hit and run drivers are another story, and they need to be punished). Within 1 min 10 seconds, there were several people standing in the street around the victim and there was a police car on the scene. I think that's probably competitive with the response time in any city in an industrialized nation.

Thoughts? I haven't had much time to scan open source news for public impression of this incident.

Liberty City Humor

Hmm...why so much humor lately? Not sure...tired of thinking hard after all day at work I think.

Why's this one funny? Again hyperbolic violence, and the Onion's standard deadpan delivery of the completely ridiculous.

The Onion

I'm blogging this.

A friend at the squadron here said there was some good stuff at thinkgeek.com. A piece of apparel that is sure to scare the insecure male:


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original post by email:
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thinkgeek.com

I'll update this post shortly.

email, links, humor

Humor

I highly recommend today's XKCD, gave me a great laugh!

XKCD

post...

...that someone told me was very important.

http://fabiusmaximus.wordpress.com/2008/05/22/important/

cadet advice

Some advice I would give USAFA cadets if/when I go back to visit.

The most useful major I can think of based on what I saw then and what I've been through now, would be operations research/industrial engineering. It doesn't directly apply to flying (as some parts of mech engineering did for me), but it does apply in a huge way to things like the logistics of moving a squadron to the desert or scheduling training sorties efficiently. Barring majoring in that, a really strong grasp of statistics is good, as well as a good knowledge of Excel (or other spreadsheet program, but Excel is what the AF uses). Also, for those who end up using weapons, a strong grasp of geometry and trigonometry.

Start an IRA and the TSP immediately.

Take the DLAB in whatever language you studied, even if you think you won't pass.

Start your masters degree immediately, get TA for it. I recommend 100% online.

Build an "I love me" book right now, containing all official paperwork, and financial info.

Practice writing OPRs once a semester and write them for your subordinates. Ask your AOC for advice/feedback.

warrant officers

The army has them. They fly helos. They fit between the enlisted ranks and officer ranks. They are technical specialists, meaning that that tend to stay in their area of expertise, and don't often move on to other things. This goes against Air Force service culture, which believes anyone who flies a plane should be an officer (and should eventually move out of the cockpit and try to be a general). But I believe this is a mistake. Given the pilot shortage we are currently suffering from, I think it would be a good idea for the Air Force to create them in this service. They would take less time to train, and they return more value over time since they stay in the cockpit, rather than moving on to desk jobs. I will have to do some research, but I am pretty sure we used to have them, back when we first split from the army.

A pilot takes about 7 years (4 years of college + 3 years of training on active duty) to create, that's a very long pipeline to try and manage in terms of meeting present demands and future needs.

When I was the Academy (10 years ago!), there were several of us who used to discuss the Air Force's problems and speculated that warrant officers might be a good idea.

Inspired to write this entry along with previous entries by Mr. Gates' encouragement of un-traditional thinking.




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original email entry, same date:
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more to come on this topic...

history, af,

4079

Army Sgt. John K. Daggett, 21, Phoenix, AZ, died Thursday in Halifax, Canada, of wounds suffered 1 May in Baghdad when an explosive struck his vehicle.

www.stripes.com

links, history, war, iraq,

Update 24 May: My guess would be they were transporting him home and he died enroute.

food

Interesting this rote that I haven't gotten tired of many foods, probably because of the variety there is here. I used to get tired of certain foods or meals and would have to quit them for awhile, but here that hasn't happened. The only things I can think of are pineapple and the generic breakfast meal (scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage). I even preemptively stopped drinking so much red gatorade, which is available here in abundance, so that I wouldn't burn myself out (or get kidney stones), but I don't seem to have built up a revulsion to it.

imbalance

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/may/11/buying-wings-but-operating-rotors/

tags: links, air force, history, war

Boyd

My schedule just changed and I should have some more free time, so look for some updates here. In the meantime, a couple of links relevant to John Boyd.


http://www.d-n-i.net/

http://www.au.af.mil/au/aul/school/ots/boyd.htm

History

I just had a interesting conversation with the wing historians here. As a persistent reader of this blog will know, I've become fascinated/obsessed with history of late, so I stopped by their shop to see the work they do. They are DOD/USAF employed civilians and they produce a monthly history of events here, most of it classified. Apparently they send most of their stuff to the Air Force Historical Research Agency at Maxwell AFB, which has both SIPR and NIPR sites. Despite all that you may have heard about us in the news, they don't hear from us very often, so we haven't been going into the official histories very much, something I will try to change if I can.

Oh, and here's my NIPR Intelink blog.

Hokusai

Under the Wave of Kanagawa, by Hokusai Katsushika, a picture I have always liked. Taken without permission from http://www.andreas.com/hokusai.html

forgetful

My shift changed recently, and I started showing at the internet cafe earlier. So I forgot they close for cleaning at noon (local), so they are booting me. More later.

institutionalized

This is a post about being institutionalized, in the Shawshank definition of the word.

It would be hyperbolic to call it brain washing, and a little understated to call it simply "becoming comfortable with one's surroundings;" I have recently noticed myself in a mood here that I've experienced before on deployments: content happiness.

I had a few decent days at work, where I wasn't dead tired at the end of my shift, and I had time to get enough sleep and do a bit of blogging and emailling, and I was happy. And at first it's a strange change, and a welcome one, because I hadn't been happy in weeks. And you don't question it, because it's good to be happy. But then it wears off and you start to think again, and you realize that you're happy because you have accepted the crappy things in your life that you cannot change. (Interesting comment of stoic philosophy here.) You accept those things, and minimize them, and do what you are able to be happy with your life as it is.

On rote, it's easy to settle into routine. Same things at the same time, every day (or every other day, every three, etc.) And once you settle in, and begin to get good at your job, you get a measure of control over how things go, and have a measure of predictability. Certainty, even the certainty of something bad, is usually less upsetting than ambiguity. (The complete unpredictability of my life in Hercs was another reason I didn't want to stay.) So even though you don't have all you could want on rote, you get comfortable.

What's really disturbing to me is that some of these times are the happiest I've had in the last few years...deploying is the only thing I do consistently for the AF, so it's the only thing I get good at and consequently the only thing I feel empowered doing. I realized as I was walking around Al Udeid this last trip in than I have spent more time there in the last 5 years than I have anywhere else except Abilene, TX.

Happiness, but it's the happiness of a hamster in a cage. All your basic needs taken care of, a place for everything and everything in its place. But it doesn't last. Eventually you remember the things you are missing out on at home through emails or phone calls or mail, or you go home, where life is messy and disorganized and you never have enough time for all the friends you want to spend time with. You go from the hive of deployed life when you can't get a moment to yourself to your empty apartment, and having to work to find people to hang out with. After my last rote I woke up one morning and realized I hadn't slept in a bed next to a woman in more than a year.

I have had good experiences on the road that I will carry with me for a long time, and I'm grateful for them. But I'm not getting any younger...one day I'll need to start this "the rest of my life" thing or I'm afraid I won't be able to. I've been terrible at relationships my whole life, I'm going to need some practice if I actually want to get married some day.

I have to quit deploying.

[writing dates: 8 apr 08, 28 apr 08, 30 apr 08, 3 may 08]